


A Dance

by cathybrokeit12



Series: Chasing Light [3]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Catharsis, Comfort, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Halamshiral, Inquisitor (Dragon Age) is not the Herald of Andraste, Inquisitor Amell (Dragon Age), Slow Dancing, The Winter Palace (Dragon Age)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2019-06-15 06:29:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15407052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cathybrokeit12/pseuds/cathybrokeit12
Summary: Cullen and Amell get a moment on the balcony.





	A Dance

Solona sighed and crumpled against the marble column, sinking into the ivy. She wasn't hiding, not really, but the two she watched on the adjacent balcony were hardly focused on sussing out potential observers.

They twirled gracefully around the veranda. Ethereal in the moonlight, they evoked spectres of Halamshiral as it had once been. Two elven mages, rulers in their own right, basking in the grandeur of power and the heady rush of young romance. And she looked so happy.

"There you are," a warm voice came from the doorway behind. Perhaps she should have been startled, on edge after all that had transpired. There was probably something dire he needed addressed, but the dim light of the stars and the heavy summer air had coaxed her into a dreamlike state of calm. She wasn't ready to let go just yet.

He came closer, adding phantom heat to her back as he peered over her shoulder. "It's a night for romance I suppose," he drawled. Then, "Isn't he a little old for her?"

Solona rolled her eyes and stepped out of her hiding place, knowing without looking that a small legion of wrinkles had made camp around his narrowed lids.

' _Not one moment of peace,_ ' she sighed to herself leaning heavily against the railing. "At least he didn't murder her family and burn down her childhood home. Leave them be Commander. We've got to take the moments we can." She rubbed her arms, skin prickling at his absence.

"Indeed," he said quietly and rested his elbows beside her. "I was worried for you tonight. Things have calmed down for the moment. Are you alright?"

She pressed her face into her arms. "Calm, yes. But at what cost? And for how long?"

Cullen squeezed her shoulder and for a moment Solona feared she might break down right there on the terrace.

"These paths we walk are not easy, or straightforward. I hear you also met our new Imperial Liaison?"

"Yes." Solona choked out, not trusting herself to speak more.

"Leliana mentioned you may have been... surprised to see her? If there's an issue of personal conflict I'm sure we can deny her offer."

Solona sighed and lifter her head. "No, she will be invaluable. I am sure." She stared into vacant garden and saw another night where she'd stood silent as her friend vanished alone into the void. "She was a dear friend once. I am." She stopped, fighting for both words and control. "I thought to never see her again. I do not yet know where we stand."

Cullen hummed and watched her. He would want to see her eyes to assure himself she was unharmed, but she couldn't oblige him yet. "Amell," he said softly.

"I'm sorry," she deflected, rubbing her face. "It's just been a long night."

"For all of us." He snorted. "The sooner we leave Orlais the better."

Solona ground her teeth and clenched the railing, earlier fury rising quickly with the reminder. "If I have to watch another one of these cunts put their hands on you, I'll burn this place to the ground myself," she hissed.

Cullen chuckled. "I'm not sure I'd try to stop you."

She coughed out a laugh to play along, but her white knuckles and trembling arms gave her away.

A large hand grasped her elbow, pulling her gently from the rail to his arms. "Dance with me," his words rumbled beneath her fingers. She drew back as if burned.

"There are people! This isn't-" She glanced frantically back at the open doorway.

He ran a hand down her back, stilling her. "There a thousand more scandalous things going on in there at this exact instant than the Inquisitor taking a dance with her Commander, I assure you," he said nodding at the door.

"I.." she couldn't finish her thought before she was caught once again in the exquisite gravity of his eyes. They were dark, not chocolate, but the warm dense earth of a riverbank in summer.

Cullen seemed equally lost for a breath, but then offered hand. She took it and concentrated all her will on not sending shocks to match the ones she felt into his palm. Her other arm slid to his waist, and before she knew it she was folded into him, rocking tiny circles around the tile.

"I know..." he trailed into a sigh and she relished the feeling this new position offered. To feel his breath, hear his heart. To feel herself that he was warm and strong and alive. It was an a gift to be cherished. She was so caught up in counting beats she nearly missed it when he murmured into her hair.

"I know there are many times I can do nothing to help you. I cannot keep you safe, and I cannot know all the pieces this world has laid as burdens at your feet. But at least, right now.." He stroked a hand over her hair. "I can give you this."

Permission granted, Solona broke. She curled herself around him, clenching his shirt in her fists and sobbed. Cullen stroked her hair and hummed a wandering tune as she poured out her stress and grief into his chest.

After the sobs had turned to whimpers, and the whimpers to scattered hiccoughs, she found herself tracing the patterns of the slightly damp embroidery lining his uniform.

"What is it?" he asked gently.

"It's just.." She smiled up at him briefly before returning to her tracing. "You're so much more you under all that armor."

He hummed, and Solona followed, guiding them through some chantry hymn she couldn't remember the name of. At the end of the tune she stopped their spinning and pulled away. Cullen stepped back immediately.

She turned back towards the party. "I suppose we should get back now. No doubt another problem's sprung up that no one else can gather the wit to solve. Thank you, Commander," she said at the door, dropping back into formality like a mask.

"Inquisitor." He bowed over his fist and followed her into the light.

**Author's Note:**

> This will get incorporated into the bigger story and edited more eventually, but I wanted to share it now. :)


End file.
